Broken
by GroundZeroFirework
Summary: Her death broke him to pieces. He promised that he would always remember her and he would go remembering her. Nine x Queen. One-shot.


**AN: Okay, new story. Suddenly popped in my mind when I'm about to go to bed and now, I'm typing this during computer class on the com lab. Here we go. Please note that this is NOT CONNECTED to my other stories.**

In the graveyard of the Suzaku Peristylium, in the dead of night, a boy with spiky, blonde hair named Nine sat in front of a grave. The boy who was once full of life was nothing but a broken man now. Fresh tears ran down his face as he read the name on the grave again and again. On his right hand is a framed photo of his beloved, who is also the same person in the grave. He remembered everything they shared together. The time he spent with her was the happiest that he ever spent and they were everything to him.

She was everything to him.

She was his happiness, his motivation to keep on going, the sun that brightens up his day. She was his life and love.

But unfortunately, his love was plucked from him by death. He cried even more as he remembered the things that she won't get to do. Things that they won't get to do. He remembered the day she told him everything that she wanted to do.

***Flashback*  
><strong>_Nine and Queen were walking on the courtyard of the Peristylium, holding hands._

"_Okay, tell me something, what do you want to do after the war?" Nine asked her. Queen gave him another one of her beautiful smiles._

"_Well, I want to finish my studies after the war, get married, have kids and grow old." She replied as they walked. Nine stopped and faced her with a smile on his face._

"_Well, since that's what you want, then I have something to ask you." He said with a cheeky smile on his face._

"_What is it?" She asked him suspiciously._

"_Marry me." He answered. Queen gasped, shocked at what he just said._

"_What? Nine, stop joking with me." She said. Nine was shocked and hurt; here he was proposing to her and he's not being taken seriously._

"_It's not a joke. After our studies or after this war, please marry me." He said and he pulled out a ring out of his pocket but Queen still looked hesitant._

"_I already asked your parents and they approved. I love you so much, Queen, so please say yes." He pleaded with her._

"_Well, I love you so much as well, so, yes. I'll marry you." She replied. Nine smiled widely and kissed her. They separated and he slipped the ring on her finger. Nine wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly._

"_I love you so much." He whispered lovingly. She hugged him back and chuckled._

"_I love you too." She replied._

***End Flashback***

Men don't cry. Usually, Nine would be bothered if he was especially if Queen was around. But now, he doesn't even care at all that he's crying. He just wanted to grieve alone. He wiped the tears that dropped on the photo.

"Queen, I'm so sorry. For not being able to protect you like I should have. I wanted to marry you because I love you so much and so that you can have your wish granted. I'm so sorry you won't get that chance now. I wonder what kind of a husband I would have been if you didn't die." He choked up on those words.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered once again as he cried. He remembered the day of that mission. The day she died.

***Flashback***

_A few weeks after Nine proposed to Queen, they were assigned a mission. The airship landed on the nearby town, carrying soldiers to purge it of the soldiers that invaded it. The Class Zero members involved in the mission are Nine, Queen and Deuce. As Deuce and the soldiers left the airship, Nine and Queen stayed behind for a while._

"_Nine, promise me something." She said._

"_What is it, love?" He asked her. _

"_If I die, promise me that you won't forget me or if you do forget me, promise me that you'll try and remember me." She requested. Nine walked even closer to her and cupped her cheek._

"_I promise. Though I doubt you're going to die." He said. He can't deny that he was scared that it might happen. When a person dies, the crystal gives every person the deceased knew exactly two weeks before it erases their memories of the dead person. Two weeks to give him or her a proper burial and to grieve. And if another person dies, the people who knew both the first one who died and the other one would retain their memories of both. Meaning another two weeks would be added and their memories of the first deceased would be erased until the fourth week._

"_I have something for you, by the way." She said. She reached in her coat pocket and pulled out a silver ring made for men. Queen put it in his palm and he looked at her questioningly._

"_What is this for?" He asked her._

"_Just something to remember me by." She answered. Nine smiled and he leaned down to kiss her._

"_Let's go." She said and he nodded. Then, they walked out of the airship and met with Deuce._

xoxoxo

_As the three of them took down the soldiers one by one, they were getting exhausted. The town was packed with Milites soldiers and the Suzaku soldiers were being wiped out. But it seems like luck is on their side as well since there were only a few Milites soldiers left. It seemed like they can take the town back._

_And then that's when the tragedy struck._

_Queen has just finished off the last soldier when she felt spikes off pain hit her. She screamed in agony and Nine turned his attention towards her. He saw a wounded Milites soldier shooting Queen. Deuce saw this as well and killed the soldier using Black Requiem. Nine ran towards Queen and caught her in his arms. She was losing too much blood._

"_Queen, oh Etro, just hang on." He pleaded. Queen coughed up blood and held a bloodstained hand to his cheek. Deuce was wide eyed with shock as she kneeled down beside them. If only she had the sufficient magic left, she could heal Queen but unfortunately, all of them were out on magic. Her Black Requiem drained her completely._

"_It's alright. It's okay. Please, be strong and don't forget me. Deuce, be strong as well." She said and she lost consciousness. Deuce checked her pulse._

"_She's still alive. If we can get her to the airship in time, we might get her some help." Deuce said. Nine nodded and took Queen in his arms and they ran back to the airship._

__xoxoxo

_Once they got there, they immediately had the medics heal her. It was taking a long time until they finally got to the Peristylium. Queen was transferred to the infirmary and Deuce and Nine waited outside of her room as the other members came with Queen's parents, the headmaster and Kurasame._

"_We heard what happened. How is she?" Queen's mother asked them._

"_We don't know yet, ma'am." Nine answered her. As if on cue, the doctor came out. He looked at them sympathetically and the others could tell it was bad._

"_How is she?" Queen's father asked him anxiously. The doctor sighed deeply._

"_She's barely alive. She's in a coma and there's absolutely no chance of her ever waking up." He explained. At those words, Nine's heart shattered to pieces; his love was never waking up ever again. He would never see her smile or hear her laugh. She would never call him an 'idiot' again. Fal'cie, he loved it when she called him that. The doctor's next words snapped him out of his reverie._

"_Ma'am, Sir, the only reason she's alive right now is because of the life support. You may either continue to put her on it or you can pull the plug on her now and end her pain." The doctor explained to Queen's parents and he extended a clip board to them. If they take it and sign it, they would be consenting that Queen be pulled out of the life support and die. But then again, it would end her pain as well. Nine looked around the room; the girls had tears in their eyes while the boys were trying to be strong. Even Sice was crying. Queen's mother was now crying her eyes out as her husband wrapped an arm around her._

"_If we do it, how long will it take before she goes?" He asked, his voice cracking._

"_About 30 minutes to an hour at the very least." The doctor answered. Queen's father finally took the clip board and signed it. Nine stood up and Queen's parents looked at him._

"_Ma'am, Sir, can I do it?" He requested of them. Her parents nodded and they turned to the doctor once more._

"_May we see her?" Her mother asked._

"_You may. I suggest that all of you say your goodbyes to her now." He said and he walked away. The other members went inside in pairs first; Ace and Deuce went in to say their goodbyes to her, followed by Trey and Cinque, Jack and Seven, Eight and Cater, King and Sice, and Machina and Rem. _

_After them, Queen's parents went in to say goodbye to their daughter. Nine listened by the door; he heard them telling her how sorry they were that they decided what they did. Tears fell from his eyes and her parents came out. Nine headed in immediately and he saw her there; lying down on the bed with an oxygen mask on her face as the ventilator forced her to breathe. Despite her current state, she still looked beautiful. Nine sat down beside her as tears silently streamed down his face._

"_Hey, love." He whispered in her ear. But she didn't respond._

"_I'm guessing your parents already told you what's going to happen, huh?" He asked her. Still no response came from her. Sighing, he caressed her face with the back of his hand._

"_Why did this have to come to this? I wish it didn't have to." He said._

"_You're so beautiful, Queen. You always will be in my eyes." He added and he kissed her forehead. Tears came down again and he started weeping._

"_I love you. Good bye." He said and he took the oxygen mask off her face and unplugged the ventilator. He took her in his arms and held her tightly against him. The other members and her parents entered the room._

"_I love you. I always will. I love you so much." He whispered again and again as he wept. He rocked his body gently as he held her and he kissed her lips one last time._

_45 minutes later, the heart monitor started beeping and Queen was dead._

***End Flashback***

Nine wiped his tears away and he put his forehead towards her grave.

"I love you so much. I would give my soul if it means having you in my arms again. If you were just in a coma and you woke up, I would've married you immediately and I would've given you the kids you wanted. I would've given you anything you wanted." He whispered as tears dripped from his face. He suddenly remembered her funeral and it was the most painful memory he had to endure.

***Flashback***

_Nine walked out of his room wearing a white dress shirt, black pants and shoes. Today was Queen's funeral and he has been dreading this day. It would be the last day that he would ever see her face in person. He walked into the dorms' living room and the others were nowhere to be found. They were probably at the graveyard by now. He walked out of the dorms and headed there. It was raining; a sad weather for a sad day. He was right; they were there and the ceremony was just starting. Nine approached them and he stood there with the others. The others gave their eulogies; retelling past missions, the fun times they had with Queen and how much she meant to all of them. After that, they opened the casket once more so that they could see her one last time. Everyone said good bye to her again and after her parents did, Nine approached the coffin. Even in death, she looked so beautiful. She was wearing a white dress and her glasses were placed beside her. Her right hand was closed around the hilt of her sword and her left hand was resting on top of her right. He pulled something out of his pocket; it was a gold wedding ring. He bought it a few weeks after he asked her to marry him. With shaking hands, he slipped it in her left ring finger with the engagement ring. As tears poured out of his face, he leaned down and kissed her forehead._

"_I love you." He whispered one last time and he walked away from the coffin. Her father closed the coffin. Then, her father, Jack, Ace, King and Eight lowered her coffin to the grave. The rain poured even harder as they buried her. As they did so, Nine reached deep into his pocket and pulled out another gold ring and slipped it to his finger, alongside the silver ring she gave him. Before she was buried completely, Nine left and started walking in the rain. He can hear Jack calling for him but King cut him off._

"_Let him go. Give him time." He ordered and Jack stopped calling for him. Nine kept on walking back to his room, where he cried the entire day._

***End Flashback***

Ever since that day, Nine became the shell of the man he once was. He changed completely. He wasn't as talkative as before, he wasn't energetic as he was before. He wouldn't even curse as much as he did before. All he did now was be quiet and he hardly paid any attention to the others. He hadn't been to any classes since her funeral and for once, Kurasame didn't bug him about it.

Nine stared at the rings in his finger. His gaze went back and forth from the rings to the picture as tears silently came down. Why did fate have to be so cruel to them? It was almost as if she knew that it would be her last mission.

"I miss you so much." He sobbed as he traced his fingers over her grave. Many times as he wandered down the halls of the Peristylium, he would see her ghost walking around. She'd look at him and smile then she would continue walking. He would always chase after her, calling out her name. But every time he got to the courtyard, she was gone, vanished. Then, he'd walk back to his room. His heart filled with anguish and despair as he thought about her death. Every night, he dreams about her. Sometimes it was about the times they shared, and at times it was the bad days they had. Just recently, he dreamed about her again. That was the reason he was out in the graveyard so late. He cried again as he remembered seeing her.

***Dream Sequence***

_Nine dreamed that he was at the beach. He looked around and realized that it was Queen's favorite beach. They went there a few times for their dates. Queen loved the sunset so they would often go there to watch it. He looked at the horizon and saw that the sun was setting again; the sunset that she loved so much. His heart ached at the thought of watching it without her. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking. He looked at the person and gasped; it was her. She was wearing a long, white, flowing, dress. Her hair was down as it always was. She looked up and looked at him with a small smile on her face. He ran up to her and stopped in front of her._

"_Hi." She said, looking up at him with a smile. He immediately leaned down and kissed her lips. She kissed him back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They separated for much needed air and they looked deep in each others' eyes._

"_Hey." He replied._

"_Oh, Nine, what happened to you? Where's the energetic Nine that I loved? You used to be full of life and you were playful. Now, you hardly leave your room at all. You barely talk to the others now." She said as tear sprung from her eyes. He leaned towards her, making their foreheads touch and he cupped her cheek._

"_I miss you so much. You're death hit me so hard. I don't even care anymore. I just want to be with you again. I want to stay here with you." He admitted as tears fell from his eyes. Tears fell from her eyes as well and she cupped his cheek._

"_Nine, please don't do this to yourself. I want you to move on, live your life. I need you to let go of me." She begged him tearfully. Nine shook his head defiantly._

"_No. I'm not letting go off you. You're the only one I will ever love." He vowed to her and to himself. He took her hands and he looked at the rings on her fingers. The rings that he gave her. The rings that proved how much he loved her._

"_I wanted to marry you so bad. If you didn't die, we could've done it and we would have kids that we would love so much. I'm sorry. I should've protected you." He said as he cried._

"_It's not your fault. I don't blame you for anything." She replied. "I wanted to marry you too and have kids with you. Kids that we'll love so much." She added. He let out a small laugh and he kissed her lips tenderly. Suddenly, she separated from him and she looked at the sun which was about to go down completely. She turned back to him and looked at him sadly._

"_I'm sorry. I have to go. I love you. Please, let go of me." She said as she let go of his hand. Nine shook his head and he extended his hand towards her._

"_Don't forget me." She whispered as a bright light appeared._

"_No, don't leave me. Please stay with me." He begged and the light dissipated and she was nowhere to be seen._

_He kneeled down and cried as the scene before him disappeared_

***End Dream Sequence***

Nine buried his face in his hands as he cried even harder.

"Why did you have to leave me? Why couldn't I have died alongside you?" He questioned her as he sobbed, knowing that she wouldn't reply. It was the 12th night since she died. In two days, he and the others would wake up in their beds, not remembering her. As if nothing ever happened. With this in mind, he made his decision.

"I promised that I would always remember you, didn't I? I have the perfect plan to do it." He said, standing up. He pulled something out of his coat pocket; it was a gun. His father gave him the gun in case he needed it. Good thing that he did. He set her picture back in front of her grave and he backed away a few steps back.

"Guys, be strong now." He whispered. He looked at the picture once again and he smirked a bit. He approached it again and gave it a kiss as well as her tombstone. Then, he stepped back again. He looked at the starry skies and wondered if she was watching him right now.

"Queen, we'll be together again. I promise." He whispered as tears streamed down from his eyes. He pointed the gun towards his forehead and pulled the trigger. And he fell forward; his left hand landed on her picture and with a contented smile on his face, he closed his eyes and left this life completely to go with her on the next life.

The next morning, the Class Zero members found Nine dead in front of Queen's grave. They were shocked and sad but at the same time, they were happy as their friends have finally found each other once again on the other side.

***On the afterlife***

Nine stirred when he felt someone stroking his hair. He realized that he was sitting on someone's lap. He opened his eyes and he saw Queen looking down at him with a small smile on her face. He smiled back at her and cupped her cheek. She held his hand as tears came down her face.

"Why are you crying?" He asked her.

"Why did you do it, Nine? Why did you kill yourself?" She asked him. He sat up and faced her.

"I want to be with you. I promised I would always remember you, didn't I? So, I wanted to go remembering you." He answered her. He moved closer to her and kissed her lips tenderly. They separated and they stood up. Suddenly, the bright light appeared before them again. She smiled widely upon seeing it.

"What is that?" He asked her curiously.

"It's the door of souls. Etro's waiting for us." She replied. Then, she looked at him with her beautiful smile.

"Let's go, Nine." She said and he nodded. He took her hand and they walked towards the light together.

They continued to watch over their friends from that day forward. Nine was contented to be with her again. Their friends may have forgotten them, but they will always continue to guide them.

Nine was happy once again. He was no longer the broken man that he once was.

For Nine, to stay there and to be with her, to never have to be separated from her again…

Everything was perfect.

**AN: So, what do you think? Love it or hate it? I actually cried writing this. Please review. I'm not exactly sure how long it'll take before the crystal erases the memories of the deceased so I did what I did. And the dream sequence was just a recounting of the dream that Nine had recently. Again, please review.**


End file.
